Safety net: better late than never

Before the community can assess the response of our public schools to an alleged plot by two Rappahannock County High School students to surpass the carnage of Columbine, the community should know if mental health professionals and counselors were enlisted to help kids and faculty through this trauma. They had survived a near-catastrophe. Word spread, rumors flew, and fears grew.

So was a trauma response team available when children and teachers returned to school? Were they given safe settings to talk out their worries/terrors/concerns?

If that important safety net hasn’t been set up yet, better late than never.

Tragically, horrifically, acts of violence in schools happen with increasing frequency. I would hope our schools have a contingency plan. Because we now know it can happen here.

Maybe they do have a plan, and it just didn’t look like it. Obviously, details shouldn’t be released but certainly, the school system and law enforcement could confirm the existence of such a plan. And if the schools don’t have a plan to counter domestic terrorism — because that’s what it is if the “alleges” prove true — one should be developed, in conjunction with law enforcement. That may help ease widespread local concern over safety.

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